Top U.S. school district accused of to 'indoctrinating' teachers against Israel

Attendee: Courses teach 'Christians and Jews were always better off under Muslim rule'

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in America, is co-sponsoring a “professional development” workshop for K-12 teachers to “Learn about Islam and the Arab World” – and the district has apparently partnered with an anti-Israel group for lessons on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Learning about Islam and the Arab World” is the topic of a two-part course that began Oct. 14 and will continue Oct. 21. It is being led by LAUSD teachers Richard Jessel and Rosa Melendez, according to a posting on the website of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, or FORUSA.

One person, who is Christian, attended the Oct. 14 class and told The Israel Group: “The workshop was nothing more than lectures proclaiming the virtues of Islam, while following the same party lines: All negative information about Islam was labeled as lies, mistranslations, ignorance, prejudice and hoaxes; speakers stated that violent jihad is non-doctrinal, bulls–t; Christians and Jews were always better off living under Muslim rule and anyone who says otherwise is lying.”

According to the agenda for Oct. 21, some of the classes include “Palestine/Israel; Palestine Today: No Way to Treat a Child,” “The Changing Arab World: Overview of Politics, Society, and Refugees” and “Refugees from the Arab World.”

Jeff Cooper, a part-time adjunct professor of history at Santa Monica College, is scheduled to teach the “Palestine/Israel” session this Saturday.

The Israel Group Founder and Executive Director Jack Saltzberg notes that one student complained about his “radical” views on the website RateMyProfessors.com, warning: “He has really far out radical left-wing political views. He hates the USA.”

Even a student who encouraged others to “stick it out in this class” said of Cooper: “He rants, he gets heated, and he tells you everything you once knew about history is wrong.”

Cooper offers a 40-page handout titled “Palestine, Israel, and the Arab-Israel Conflict: A Primer” (Part 1 and Part 2), which Saltzberg warns, “is nuanced anti-Israel propaganda from beginning to end, with thousands of inaccuracies, distortions, factual lies, and insidious misrepresentations.”

Cooper never once referred to indigenous Jews as “Palestinian Jews” when, during the British Mandate, Jews were called “Palestinian Jews” and Palestinians were referred to as “Palestinian Arabs.”

One of the sections in the handout is titled “The Creation of Palestinian Refugees and Ethnic Cleaning.”

Another section with the heading “The June 1967 War” states: “From 1948-1967, Israel’s military and political leadership was looking for a way to conquer and occupy the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”

Cooper’s handout also discusses the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel, or BDS: “Israel regards all forms of Palestinian opposition to the occupation as threats to its national security, including non-violent methods like calling for boycotts, divestment and sanctions.”

The handout only uses the word “terrorism” three times. In one case, it talks about the Palestine Liberation Organization “renouncing” terrorism. In another reference, Cooper says, “This is why military occupations [Israel] are the highest form of terrorism.”

Another session is led by a Palestinian American, Rola Karam, and is titled, “Palestine Today: No Way to Treat a Child.” According to The Israel Group, Karam has taught the course for the LA Unified School District since 2009.

Saltzberg also notes that Karam has been a conference presenter on the “Nakba” (or “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding in 1948) for Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian liberation theology group in Jerusalem. The Israel Group writes: “Sabeel seeks to replace all of Israel with a Palestinian Arab state and specializes in working to turn Christians against Jews and Israel, and is among the ADL’s Top 10 anti-Israel Groups: ‘the worst of the worst.'”